A Woman Named Beautiful Existence Ate Nothing But Starbucks Food for a Year

For the 365 days in 2013, a Seattle woman named Beautiful Existence (yes, really) consumed nothing but food and drinks from Starbucks.

Beautiful Existence, a 40-year-old mom from Seattle, just completed a year-long challenge to consume only Starbucks food and drinks. (Image source: Beautiful Existence/For One Year of My Life)

The first question you might ask is "why?" The second is likely, "How'd it go?"

The answers, in short:

1. Because she's curious.
2. It went well.

Shortly after Existence began the challenge, she wrote a blog post in response to media asking why she would attempt to eat nothing but items from the coffee chain's menu.

"Because I LOVE being human and I LOVE the privilege of being able to ask the question WHY? in the first place! I love the question WHY? because sometimes I find that the answer leaves me with even more questions about life… and then, my circle starts all over again and I wouldn’t want my WHY? any other way," she wrote.

Speaking with USA Today after completing the challenge, she said part of her curiosity was to "find out about companies and how things work in the world."

Why Starbucks? Well, a McDonald's challenge was already done for a month, the results of which were documented in the film "Super Size Me." Subway saw its share of attention when Jared Fogle lost a significant amount weight eating only its sandwiches.

"But when I watched those guys doing their thing I asked myself 'where are the WOMEN challenging themselves in the world?' 'Where are the effects being shown on a woman’s culture? A woman’s family & children? A woman’s diet, weight, fashion, checkbook, community and world through challenges?' 'Where is HER VOICE on how an international company is directly or indirectly impacting everything from her waistline to her bottom line and every other woman’s, man’s, child’s, societies and planets world with their presence?'" Existence asked in her blog post last January.

Being from Seattle, she decided to dig into the nationwide chain that originated into her hometown.

Meals composed of Starbucks products cost the 40-year-old mother up to $600 per month. Challenges included needing to plan ahead enough to have something to eat when the cafes were closed. Eventually, she told the New York Daily News, her taste buds became used to the Starbucks products and she's excited to have the food world opened up to her again.

"My taste buds have been freaking out for the last 24 hours," Existence told the Daily News when she rang in the new year. "Starbucks doesn't really have anything that's fried, and you can only eat so much after you haven't had stuff like that for a year."

A typical meal consisting of hard-boiled eggs and a wrap by Evolution Fresh, which is sold in Starbucks cafes. (Image source: Beautiful Existence/For One Year of My Life)

You might wonder what Existence indulged in first after subsisting on lemon loaf, wraps, lattes and Frappachinos for a year. She tucked into fish and chips from Ivars, a restaurant in Seattle.

Watch Existence talk about her experience on KCPQ-TV's report:

She's thankful that she didn't gain too much weight on the diet.

"I'm a typical woman and my weight fluctuates a bit," she told USA Today. "But I didn't see higher weight gain even when I had more Frappuccinos."

Wonder what Existence is onto next? In her most recent blog post, she announced that she now worked for REI (Recreational Equipment Inc) and would be attempting to "learn every recreational sport!" -- or at least the more than 80 she has on a list.

Watch Existence's intro about her "For 1 Year of My Life" challenges:

Previous year-long challenges Existence has completed included following all the advice in Parents magazine and buying everything she needed at Goodwill.

(H/T: WKMG-TV)

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